Mariners make MLB history as first LED lit field
SEATTLE -- The Seattle Mariners will announce tomorrow that Safeco Field will become Major League Baseball's (MLB) first LED lit field.
The Mariners benched some 600 high intensity discharge (HID) lights in favor of an LED system designed by the Federal Way-based company Planled, which has already converted several buildings for Boeing and other companies.
Founder and CEO John Hwang uses human studies and economics to convince companies that LED can improve their productivity and control costs.
Studies show LED can incorporate a fuller spectrum of light and mimic the blue and red components of natural light. It can improve energy levels, moods and performance of athletes and other workers.
Some soccer, NBA and NFL teams already use LED lights. The Seahawks will play the Super Bowl under LED.
Planled already installed an LED system in the Mariner club house that offers players bright, energy enhancing light before games and the more typical yellowish light that can help them unwind after the game.
Hwang said going LED will cut the Mariners' lighting costs by 60 percent and says, under the team's current level of light usage, the LED bulbs can last 50 years or longer.
MLB lighting experts spent two days measuring light levels over every inch of Safeco Field and found the LED system meets or exceeds all league standards.
The Mariners say the new lights will be shining for the first home game of 2015.
